City cleanup
returns Saturday

Thursday, April 18, 2013 - Updated: 3:52 PM

Our guess is most folks who live in these parts are more than happy to see the snow melt away, mainly because it's the clearest sign that warmer weather is on the way.

But the disappearing snow also uncovers an entire winter's worth of debris, litter and general filth that makes any community look, well, dirty.

Instead of griping about it, the city of Amsterdam is offering its residents a chance to do something about it.

Saturday marks the return of the annual citywide pick-up. In years past, the event has been fairly successful, as more than 12 tons of litter have been carted off, thanks to the efforts of scores of volunteers who have shown up.

Mayor Ann Thane has set the bar a little higher this year, especially since she's privately and publicly noted the apparent increase of litter and debris around town. The goal is to have 250 volunteers and 500 bags of trash collected.

We hope to see those numbers exceeded.

Community pride goes a long way toward helping a city improve itself. Local and state governments can pour all the money they want into various "revitalization" projects, but that only goes so far if the people who live in the community don't care.

Simply put, garbage strewn all over the place makes the city look bad. People shouldn't want the city to look bad.

And if people in this city want Amsterdam to look presentable, then they should do their part to help clean it up.

City Hall isn't asking for much. The cleanup runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and all people have to do is stop up at 61 Church St., grab a couple of garbage bags, pick an area to clean, and get the litter off the streets.

Folks can spend the entire five hours cleaning up trash, or they can spend an hour helping out. The point is to get people hitting the streets and doing some good for this town.

And there are treats at the end. Each participant who returns two bags of litter will receive a coupon for a free ice cream cone from Stewart's, a free ticket to the Mohawks' opening night game, and a free hot dog, fries and soda at the game.

Not a bad deal, and you get the satisfaction of making your community look a little nicer.

For more information about the cleanup, and for a specific list of what's acceptable and what's not, call the mayor's office at 841-4311.